Vanderbilt’s rolling out the Kissam ‘prison’ structure

Let’s face it – Vanderbilt students love to complain about the housing system on campus. The lottery housing upperclassman face each year has caused many a panic attack, but could it be that Vanderbilt is working to make it even more restricted?

In 2008, Vanderbilt opened up The Commons, the first phase of College Halls where first-year students are split into 10 houses, each with its own head of house living among them as well as teaching on campus. Almost every student will attest that living on Commons that first year was one of the best things Vanderbilt did for integrating them into the college social life. However, Vanderbilt is now looking to restructure all upperclass housing to be College Halls as well.

Just two years ago, the university opening up Kissam’s new, two College Halls. It is structured much like The Commons, but it is mixed with sophomores, juniors, and seniors in a variety of room layouts. The Vanderbilt website on Kissam says that it is “organized to create unique neighborhoods within the larger college communities that will foster a variety of student-led opportunities for engagement, enrichment, and leadership.”

But lest we take everything “the man” says as true without question, I decided to examine Kissam for myself. Many students have complained that Kissam is nothing but a newly renovated prison. Vanderbilt recently announced that within the next 20 years, all housing for upperclassmen will be modeled after Kissam’s College Halls where students will move sophomore year and remain until graduation. With a commitment that serious in the making, I took it upon myself to investigate these “prison” rumors for myself.

Below I will document my thoughts as I was guided through the depths of Kissam:

First and foremost, Kissam College Halls are bouji! Junior Meredith Bradshaw who lives in Kissam and served as my Gandalf during my adventure, notes that the best part about living in Kissam is that it is “new and clean with wonderful facilities, fabulous kitchen food, and the best-stocked Munchie Mart on campus.” These facts are undeniable, as everything about Kissam screams hotel, down to the spa water in the main lobby. The food smelled intoxicating and the rooms sizes are ridiculous.

But the practicality of these Halls is absolutely nonexistent. In order to get to Meredith’s room, she has to swipe four times to get in and out. She notes that prison may not be the right term since prison implies “implies keeping people in, while Kissam is more about keeping people out: an exclusivity that students can’t control.”

If she wasn’t with me, I would have no hope getting anywhere other than the lobby. Not to mention the fact that she has to swipe me all the way outside if I wanted to leave – a security measure that I’m sure has left many a lost student stuck in random hallways. I’m all in favor of safety, but this was just inconvenient and left me feeling like an outsider even though I’m a student here.

Senior Bobby Austin says that he is against the housing restructuring plan.

He called Kissam the “most inconvenient little maze of a dorm I’ve ever encountered. Do less Vanderbilt.” Even beyond just that, the university claims that these halls will strengthen community. Wandering through the halls though, I saw what appeared to be a deserted hotel. I saw no bonding, no hair-braiding, no rousing games of monopoly.

Frankie Salvatore, a senior who lived in Kissam before moving to Towers, said: “The idea is good in concept but don’t know if it fits the typical Vanderbilt student’s personality.” Us Vandy students want to have the freedom to socialize with all our extracurricular friend groups, and restricting that to one College Hall for three years seems like it would make a vast group of friends difficult to maintain actively.

As I tried to avoid the twins from The Shining popping out to frighten me in each empty hall, I mused on how important my various living set-ups have been to my college experience. Being able to live in different places with different people each year of Vanderbilt has helped me learn to adapt to new environments and work with different people in a living space.

Michael Maerlender, freshman, said: “The restructure will cause a split people between friends and housemates or college mates.” This plan seems like it will rob students of a valuable experience before the real world, and at the very least needs to be carefully considered so that students don’t feel like they’re in a prison or like they’re utterly lost.